Japan to Hold First Ever Trial Over Crypto Hacking Losses

An 18-year-old Japanese youth has been sent to prosecutors in the country's first ever trial involving cryptocurrency cyber-theft.

AccessTimeIconMar 15, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 11:00 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

An 18-year-old Japanese youth has been sent to prosecutors in the country's first ever trial involving cryptocurrency cyber-theft.

According to a report from The Japan Times on Friday, the unnamed minor from the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, allegedly stole about 15 million yen ($134,340) in the cryptocurrency monacoin. In Japan, you are legally considered a minor until the age of 20.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • From Aug. 14 to Sept. 1, 2018, the youth is said to have repeatedly hacked cryptocurrency wallet Monappy by leveraging a glitch on its website, sending multiple transfer requests to himself and causing losses to about 7,700 users of the service.

    He later transferred the stolen tokens to an account with a different cryptocurrency platform where he exchanged the monacoin for another cryptocurrency. The stolen funds were spent it on items such as a smartphone, according to the report.

    Japanese police said the youth has confessed to the crimes, the Times writes, quoting him as saying:

    “I felt like I’d found a trick no one knows and did it as if I were playing a video game.”

    Monappy’s website has been offline since the hacks, and currently reads that the “service has been suspended due to external attacks.”

    In November, Monappy posted an updated on its Medium blog, saying that it had “completed the direct repair of defects” and was conducting a “final security check” before resuming its operations.

    Japan has lost getting on for a billion dollars through cryptocurrency thefts over the years, with major breaches including Coincheck ($533 million), Mt. Gox ($350 million) and Zaif ($60 million), among others.

    In a case involving the Mt. Gox collapse, former CEO Mark Karpeles today escaped charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, but was found guilty of manipulating exchange data by the Tokyo District Court. Karpeles was handed a suspended sentence of two and a half years.

    Japanese policeman image via Shutterstock

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.